On Saturday, Sept 23, 4:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. the City of Prince George thanked residents and volunteers for opening their hearts to wildfire evacuees for over a month.
The City of Prince George requested use of the District of Vanderhoof’s portable stage for the event. Vanderhoof Mayor and Council agreed to make an exception to their policy and provide use of the stage for a cost recovery fee only.
The concert was a free event for everyone to celebrate the extremely successful efforts to welcome, assist, and care for Cariboo wildfire evacuees this summer.
The event was headlined by multiple Juno award-winning Canadian rock group Glass Tiger with special guest pop/rock singer-songwriter Barney Bentall.
“Bentall was personally affected by the fires in the Cariboo, he has a ranch in the area. He tells stories though his music and spoke of his events during the fire,” said Steve Dubas in a Facebook post on the weekend.
“This summer, we did something extraordinary. We welcomed more than 10,000 people into our community. 10,000 people who were fleeing wildfires in the Cariboo,” says Mayor Lyn Hall. “On behalf of Council: thank you Prince George. We’re proud of how you stepped up and showed what hospitality really means in our region. But we can do more than say it, we can show it. Please join us in Canada Games Plaza this Saturday to give yourselves and your neighbours a well-deserved pat on the back for an extraordinary job well done.”
Prince George hosted more than 10,400 evacuees this summer – more than any other BC community. As of this week, the City is now down to one Cariboo evacuee who continues to receive services. This final evacuee is scheduled to return home this week.
